I am afraid that Catholic believers are better entitled to understand the true essence of The Statement. Protestants and agnostics are admittedly individualists, but a Catholic believes that sin is collective and pardon is collective, too. When a Catholic says "The Church" he is meaning the body of believers, and not only the organization with headquarters in Rome. All those who submitted comments on this film have forgotten that Brossard was NOT a criminal before the passing of the law on crimes against humanity, so the Church was giving him shelter against outlaws who wanted to eliminate him, not against the State. The Catholic Church has always given protection to the persecuted, as we Brazilians do know from the times of our not-really-entirely-gone military dictatorship. During World War II, the French clergy helped the communists and the partisans, and priests have always given their life in the defense of the persecuted. So, Brossard believes that he can receive remission, because remission is never denied to anyone, but he sees his world coming down around him - the true criminals being those who are now in power and KEEP killing to maintain power. And Brossard is a touching portrait of a man like me and you who only wants to put and end to his paying his debts.
Review of The Statement
